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Nebraska rallies, again, takes down Penn State

By BTN.com staff -
3 years ago

Taylor Martinez threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Turner for Nebraska’s first lead, and the No. 18 Cornhuskers overcame a double-digit, second-half deficit for the fourth time this season in a 32-23 victory over Penn State on Saturday.

Ameer Abdullah ran for 116 yards on a career-high 31 carries, and Martinez finished with 104 yards as the Huskers pounded away on the ground on a windy afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The Huskers (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten), down 14 points at half, got TD runs of 1 and 2 yards from Imani Cross to tie it at 20.

Martinez threw 56 yards to Kyler Reed on a third-and-5 and, three plays later, found Turner on a short slant in the end zone for the lead with 10:57 left.

Penn State (6-4, 4-2) looked ready to regain the lead, but tight end Matt Lehman fumbled into the end zone and Nebraska recovered.

RECAP: Penn State fell victim to a furious Cornhuskers comeback, as No. 16 Nebraska pulled out a 32-23 win on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Things didn’t look good for the Cornhuskers when they trailed by 11 points in the second quarter. However, Nebraska eventually battled back to take the lead with 11:34 remaining in the fourth quarter when Taylor Martinez and Jamal Turner combined for a five-yard touchdown.

The Cornhuskers’ Martinez passed for 168 yards, completing 11 of 19 throws. He tossed one touchdown and no interceptions. Martinez was also a threat on the ground, as he rushed for 100 yards on 15 attempts.

Nebraska’s offense dominated, ripping off huge chunks of yardage. The Nittany Lions’ defense gave up five plays of at least 20 yards. With 13:23 to go in the fourth quarter, Martinez found Kyler Reed open for a 56-yard pass, the Cornhuskers’ biggest gain of the game. The big play set up an eight-play drive that gave Nebraska a 27-23 lead after the Cornhuskers scored on Martinez’s pass.

Zach Zwinak did his best to carry Penn State’s offense, turning 21 carries into 136 rushing yards and one touchdown.

Nebraska racked up 436 total yards. In addition to Martinez’s efforts through the air, the Cornhuskers also rushed 58 times for 268 yards.

The Nittany Lions’ Matt McGloin was good for 239 yards during the game, completing 18 of 38 passes. McGloin tossed one touchdown and one interception. McGloin had a good connection with receiver Allen Robinson. He hauled in six catches for 96 yards.

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11 Comments

The better team lost, well, they didn’t actually lose because they were the better team on the field.

Congrats to the Big Ten champion Penn State Nittany Lions.

Mark H on 11/10/2012 @ 7:45pm EDT Said:

Why doesn’t anyone at BTN or on the air tell the truth: Penn State got hosed. You guys are homers for glossing over the replay booth’s blown call that changed the game. Bill O’Brien is right – fans have to stick with them because the conference has tipped the scales against them. Go State!

Elaine Kenzie on 11/10/2012 @ 8:00pm EDT Said:

That was a lousy call that negated the Penn State TD. The Linesman was looking right AT the play, should have called TD for sure. Can’t believe officials couldn’t get it right even after seeing the slo mo.

GBR_ZX_87 on 11/10/2012 @ 8:23pm EDT Said:

K.John,

I had such a great time at the game tonight and met a LOT of very classy Penn State fans… so I’m just left with the conclusion that you must be the odd man out. If you had lost as many games as Nebraska has on questionable calls (and that call was certainly questionable), then you would have started to figure out that this is just the way football goes. You don’t have to like it, but you might try to represent your fan base more gracefully.

Penn State played lights out, and I would argue WAS the best team on the field, but they were not the team with enough depth to endure to the end. They played with just as much heart (probably more as Nebraska was napping through the 2nd quarter), they played with far more discipline than Nebraska did and against a team with lesser guns and lesser grit could have easily claimed victory. But I was at the game, and there was a nice illegal block that saved McGloin from getting murdered from behind while in his throwing motion what turned out to be a huge gain through the air for Penn State and resulted ultimately in a touchdown, so deal with it. The fact that we made so many critical mistakes and the game was still that close just means that at the end of the day, Penn State just wasn’t able to out gun (even if they did out play) Nebraska.

To the many classy Penn State fans that I met tonight, it was a true pleasure and I hope you sweep the rest of your games. You still have SO MUCH to be proud of.

GBR!

Tampa Lion on 11/10/2012 @ 9:32pm EDT Said:

GBR:
That call on the Lehman TD was horredous. I can see it being missed on the field but it was not even close on replay. Nebraska may still have won as they were moving the ball well througout the second half but it would be nice to let the players decide the game rather than the refs.

GBR_ZX_87 on 11/10/2012 @ 9:52pm EDT Said:

Tampa, I am not contesting that the call was a gift. Obviously, I am going to be more inclined to see why they didn’t overturn it after the review, and I don’t think anyone can really fault that line official for making the call that he did. The ball didn’t look like it was being held too strong going into the hits, so when it popped out the other side, it is understandable to think it got fumbled. However, that was a VERY physical game and those refs did a good job tonight in letting them play. Say you did get that touchdown though, it doesn’t really take any time away from us, our guys have shown for weeks now that they don’t quit until the clock is at 00:00, and the final score was a 9 point difference. If you had gotten that touchdown, it is very unlikely our field position would have been any worse (probably better actually), and if all else goes the same, we still win the game.

Your boys played out of their minds football tonight. They played stronger for much longer than I thought they would and that is certainly a program that, especially considering their adversity, that only a fool could disrespect. Bill O’Brien is going to do some amazing things in that program in the years to come, but like you suggested, with or without that touchdown, it isn’t likely that Penn State took the win. Again, I hold Penn State in the HIGHEST regard and I had such a great conversation with group of PSU fans on the way to my seat and felt a great appreciation for the fan base that had come to Lincoln. We have been on the bad end of those calls many a time. Go back to to our final season in the Big 12 when we got robbed of our Big 12 Championship Title. We understand, we empathize, but it is what it is, and what it is is hard to swallow. I will look forward to playing Penn State again.

CLYDE JAMES on 11/11/2012 @ 8:41am EDT Said:

EXCUSE ME THE RULES STATE THAT ONCE THE TIP OF THE BALL TOUCHES THE FORWARD EDGE, NOT CROSS THE GOAL LINE, IT IS A TOUCH DOWN. LASTLY THE RETIRED HEAD OF THE NFL OFFICIALS REVIEWED IT AND CALLED IT A TOUCHDOWN.

Mike Redding on 11/11/2012 @ 12:47pm EDT Said:

GBR – THAT KARMA THING – WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND – TOOK 30 YEARS BUT DEAL WITH IT – NO WHINING ALLOWED

David Puckett on 11/11/2012 @ 3:10pm EDT Said:

no touchdown.. case closed.

LukeinNE on 11/11/2012 @ 4:18pm EDT Said:

Sigh. Nebraska was going to win regardless of the blown call. They were the better team on the stat sheet, they were the better team on the scoreboard. The blown call just fattened their margin a bit.

dale on 11/12/2012 @ 11:02am EDT Said:

Why was the quarterback from Penn not flagged and removed from game after the safety call in the end zone. he removed his helmet and was yelling at the official. It happen right in front of me at the game and we were yelling flag flag. but nothing happened. that move is automatic removal from game. and they did nothing. so quit whining. you can not remove your helmet on the playing field, that is an automatic 15 and yelling at an official is removal from game.